The present invention relates to a fastener device used for fixing a mirror to a housing, and more specifically, for fixing an optical path bending mirror within a housing of an optical scanning device used in laser beam printers. The optical path bending mirror deflects a scanning laser beam toward a photoconductive drum.
In a conventional optical scanning device employed in a laser beam printer, a scanning laser beam is ultimately deflected by an optical path bending mirror to be incident onto a photoconductive drum. The optical path bending mirror must be fixed at both ends in the main scanning direction. Further, since the optical path bending mirror is customarily an elongated glass plane having a metal mirror surface deposited thereon, the use of an adhesive poses various problems, and the mirror is therefore conventionally affixed at both ends by metal fittings screwed to the housing.
However, when the optical path bending mirror is secured to the housing, using the conventional metal fittings a multiplicity of operation steps are necessary. For example, setting of the mirror, setting of at least two metal fittings, and screwing two or more metal fittings to the housing are required. Also included is some type of adjustment step, in order to properly position the mirror. When using metal fittings, more than one adjustment step may be necessary. The housing must also be provided with two or more screw holes for the fixing of the metal fittings.